


Cutting the Strings

by solikerez



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, maybe a oneshot, maybe not, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 22:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5843155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solikerez/pseuds/solikerez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was the General Hux: Planet Destroyer, stony-faced commander of the thousands upon thousands of First Order stormtroopers, restorer of order in the galaxy, and a man on the ruthless path toward absolute power. And despite all these things, he still felt the crushing reality of his sins weighing down on his back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cutting the Strings

General Hux always knew that his journey to power would leave a trail of destruction in his wake. He had since learned to train his eyes on his goals ahead instead of looking back. Emotions were discarded long ago. But what he didn’t realize was that his actions had been weighing him down all that time.

  
He was the General Hux: Planet Destroyer, stony-faced commander of the thousands upon thousands of First Order stormtroopers, restorer of order in the galaxy, and a man on the ruthless path toward absolute power. And despite all these things, he still felt the crushing reality of his sins weighing down on his back.

He hated himself for thinking those thoughts and for his wavering resolve. No doubt the Supreme Leader would be able to sense his shift in thought. He shivered just thinking of the consequences of being found out. 

There was a time when he was much younger when he wasn’t quite so cynical. He came in with a hopeful spirit that believed he could fix up the galaxy and repair the cracks in the system that were left behind by the previous regime. Hux was smart and calculating and diligent and organized. Hux was so sure he could do better.

And he did. He worked his way up slowly, building the First Order bigger and better than the Empire could ever dream of. He should have been proud, but he was just tired. He didn’t know such power could feel so empty and meaningless.

Hux found himself wandering away from his duties for a moment. It was a rare occasion when he stepped away from his responsibilities, but he needed time to collect his thoughts. The stormtroopers guarding the blast doors to the outside of the base knew better than to question his destination.

Starkiller base had been destroyed by the rebels, and by that girl. The only logical step forward was to regroup and rebuild. They had set up a temporary base on Felucia, a very green jungle planet in a star system very far away from the rebels and the remnants of the New Republic. But he knew it would only be a matter of time before they would be found again. The rebels most likely had the full map to Skywalker by that point, and with him involved even Hux couldn’t calculate their next move.

He was tired of rebuilding what would only be knocked down again.  
Hux found himself walking into the depths of the forest as moonlight filtered through the gargantuan trees. In his hands he clutched a blaster he had taken from the supply wing of the base, knuckles ghostly white and all the color drawn from his face. He was falling apart.

Unbeknownst to him, a borrowed Resistance ship had landed far from the base and its sole occupant stalked quietly through the trees, careful not to make a sound.

When she first saw him, Rey’s instinct was to kill. She knew his name and face from the tales Finn and other Resistance members told of his mercilessness. She knew he was behind the decimation of the New Republic and responsible for millions of deaths, and for a brief second when she caught sight of his defiantly orange hair she felt a spark of pure rage and hatred course through her veins. She imagined driving her lightsaber straight through him as he collapsed onto the ground, lifeless face bathed in blue light.

She quickly snapped herself out of it, feeling disgust for herself coil in her stomach as she realized the darkness of her thoughts. _Jedi are not meant to let their anger get the best of them_ , she reminded herself, trying to eliminate her negative emotions and replace them with calm focus. 

_“Take your hatred and eliminate it,” Master Luke had said to her one evening on their island on Ahch-To. Rey was startled by what he implied; she had simply been meditating when he spoke to her. She had been trying to clear her mind completely of distracting thoughts, but she hardly thought she was harboring feelings of hatred at all._

_Luke seemed to notice her confusion and gestured for her to sit across from him on the grass as she scooted over to him. “You sense that there is a great deal of injustice in this universe, do you not?”_

_Rey didn’t hesitate. “Of course, Master. Isn’t it the job of the Jedi to restore justice?"_

_Luke smiled gently at her. Rey had an eager soul, with the strong desire to right what was wrong in the galaxy. It was an admirable quality, and one which he had shared long ago when he was a young man._

_"You are not wrong; the Jedi order was established in order to maintain peace and justice in the galaxy. But there is much more to it than just that, Padawan.”  
Rey chewed her lip, feeling slight embarrassment as Master Luke smiled almost expectantly at her, as if she would know what made a true Jedi._

_“As a Jedi, you have a responsibility to control your emotions and not let them cloud your judgement. There will come times when you will want to use your anger and hatred to fuel your power, but that leads to a dangerous, much darker path."_

_Rey frowned. She knew that hatred, anger, and fear were not supposed to affect the Jedi. But she was a human, and she knew that in many cases the darkest of emotions could creep up on you until all control is gone. "Forgive me for asking this Master, but how can I control my feelings when I fight those who represent the evil of the dark side?”_

_Luke closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly trying to find the best answer to her question. “All life is precious, Rey. Sometimes darkness can block out light, but you will never be able to see it if you let the darkness consume you too. Such was the case with my father, a man so shrouded in darkness that he nearly extinguished the light. But there was good in him yet. Do you understand now, Padawan?”_

_Rey nodded in understanding. “Yes. Thank you.” She tried to quiet her mind once again and found much more success this time around._

That was nearly two months ago, and Rey had tried to drill the lesson into her mind since then. She took a hesitant step toward General Hux, who was facing the other way, and felt a jolt of panic as a twig snapped beneath her feet. Hux spun around so fast that Rey was sure he must have experienced whiplash.  
Hux held the blaster out in front of him, aimed directly for Rey. She sensed a panicked fluster in him and held her hands up to keep him from shooting. In a sudden burst of confidence, she urged him to calm down. “Put the blaster away, General.”

“I could kill you, you know.” Hux’s hands trembled under the blaster’s weight and he suddenly felt weary, but he did not move an inch. Rey quirked an eyebrow up, gently placing one hand on the hilt of her lightsaber in warning. She was fairly certain she could defend herself if it came to it, but she had not come to battle him; she had come to seek out Kylo Ren. Instead, she spoke again. 

“I said, _put the blaster down,_ General.” Rey was surprised to see that General Hux’s resolve had worn away almost completely. Hux, however, could not completely abandon his pride, and turned his nose up at Rey. It was mostly for show; truth be told, he was weary of fighting her and her damned Resistance, and he was tired the pressure of the First Order, especially with Snoke’s looming presence looming over him, threatening to eliminate both him and his career at his next large failure.

General Hux thought bitterly that almost everything seemed tiring these days and nothing worth the immense stress and guilt he was forced to push out of his mind years ago. His pride, he felt, was all that he had anymore. So he stepped forward, eyes burning straight into hers as he said with a slightly defiant tone, “If you’re going to kill me, make it quick. I do not wish to drag out my demise any longer.”

Rey knew her golden chance was slipping through her fingers. She could defeat General Hux and Kylo Ren all within a night. It was a tempting idea, to eliminate two of the largest threats to the Resistance in such a short span of time. But she could not bring herself to do it. She sensed his inner turmoil and felt the tiniest sliver of humanity in his guarded face.

“I will not kill you, General Hux.” Hux was taken aback. Surely this was stupidity on her part, to let such an opportunity slip away. 

“Oh? Do you think yourself so morally righteous that you can’t even kill a sworn enemy?" 

Rey dodged the question, feeling that no matter what, her response would seem condescending to him. Instead she sighed and made a tough decision. "Just go. I will not kill you, General." 

Hux shook his head slightly to himself, hardly understanding her reasoning for letting him go free. But he didn’t question her motives again. He looked up at her and gave her one curt nod, realizing that he could not truly return to the base without running into major issues. The Supreme Leader would ask why he hadn’t made an effort to capture the girl, after all the destruction she had dealt to the First Order. To say that he would not be happy was probably the greatest understatement in the history of the galaxy.

General Hux was tired of being a puppet. He was tired of being yanked this way and feeling as if he were being dragged through life by the strings. He no longer cared to carry out the Supreme Leader’s every whim or to listen to Kylo Ren’s incessant condescension or to rebuild what was broken. So he decided he wouldn’t return to the base. He’d find his way elsewhere, somewhere the First Order couldn’t reach him. Besides, he had the sneaking suspicion that the First Order would soon find itself in shambles again, maybe for good.

But until then, he would find a way to disappear, start fresh. The scavenger girl still eyed him cautiously, as if his next move would be completely unexpected. And she was right. Before she knew what was going on, she heard the dull thump of a blaster hitting the forest floor. She looked up, to see a gloved hand extended to her. She looked at Hux as if he had grown a second head, completely shocked at the gesture. Slowly she met his gaze and brought her hand to meet his.

His grip was oddly tight and Rey hardly knew what to do with her own hand. But as their eyes met a silent understanding passed between the two. It was a disorienting experience for both of them, as the two opposing forces released their grips and turned towards their separate paths. As they turned their separate ways, Hux had the nagging feeling that something needed to be said. And so he turned to the scavenger girl- Rey was her name, although he hadn’t cared to use it until just then- and she felt him stop in his tracks, turning too. "Thank you… Rey,” Hux said, the name foreign on his tongue as he spoke it for the first time.

“For what?” She wondered. She did not think Hux the kind to express any sort of gratitude. And yet, here he was.  She didn’t know who she was looking at.

“For cutting the strings.” And he was gone. Rey pondered anxiously if she had done a good thing by letting him go. She could not be entirely sure, but she could feel a slight shift in the air. Like there was a little less darkness tainting the galaxy and the Force. She hoped that somewhere, Master Luke could feel it too, and that he was proud. 

But she pushed all those thoughts aside, clearing her mind and finding peace and strength in the Force. She had no idea what to expect, facing Kylo Ren once again, but she felt a renewed vigor and hope. Maybe she could find some light in him as well.

_Maybe redemption would take place tonight in the jungles of Felucia._

**Author's Note:**

> I got a prompt on tumblr requesting that I write about Rey sparing Hux in some way and here it is! This will most likely be a one-shot, but I'm thinking of continuing it so that I can write about what goes down between Rey and Kylo, so if you'd like that, let me know! This is my first fic on here and my first time writing any type of star wars fanfic so if you have any comments or constructive criticism, feel free to give it.


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